Ryan Day, Jim Knowles, and Tony Alford Preview Michigan State

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State head coach Ryan Day met with the media on Tuesday to discuss the win against Rutgers and preview the Buckeyes’ first road game of the season this Saturday at Michigan State.

Defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Jim Knowles and running backs coach Tony Alford also answered questions from reporters.

Here is a summary of what was said.

Ryan Day

+ Miyan Williams was the player of the game on offense. He ran hard. He wasn’t as highly recruited but they saw something in him, he was a hard runner and him being from Ohio meant a lot. He’s built low to the ground, has power, and good vision. He’s an interesting person and they’ve seen different parts of his personality bloom. He has been through a lot.

+ They are anxious to get TreVeyon Henderson back. Day thinks he will be back this week but the decision is up to the medical staff.

+ On Jordan Hancock returning from his injury, Day said he is back full speed but they will look to see how he is after the bye week. They are hoping to get him back after that, but he is still week to week.

+ Steele Chambers is increasing his production. He is playing at a high level. He understands what it takes to be a linebacker.

+ On the decisions in the red zone offense, Day said it’s a lot of work on Wednesdays with game planning. There are sometimes heated discussions out there. They have those conversations all the way up until game day. This past week they had a lot of plays there and had to dig deeper to maybe some plays they hadn’t practiced in a week or so, but they executed things well. The best feeling is when they put it on the field and execute it well and they know all of the work that went into it.

+ A lot of his playbook features plays drawn up specifically for Jaxon Smith-Njigba. They’ve had to adapt and they had to do it in the Notre Dame game when it caught them off guard. The silver lining is that they’ve had to go down the road of different packages and the team has embraced it and put it on the field successfully. It has given them some versatility in the offense as well. But they are anxious to get Smith-Njigba back.

+ On the first road game of the season, Day said Spartan Stadium is a tough place to play. It’s always hard to win on the road and this will be a new challenge without having played on the road yet this season.

+ Michigan State has had a couple of injuries but a lot of the Top 10 team is returning from last season. They know even with the losses, they have their hands full this week. Michigan State does a good job of creating chaos in the backfield.

+ The great ones can bring it every week and don’t get tired of the basic, fundamentals.

+ On the expectations being so high at Ohio State, Day said he thinks it is a good thing. People expect them to win at a certain level and they hold themselves to a high standard. They embrace that and that’s what makes them good. They didn’t come to Ohio State to be average, they want to be great. They talked after the Rutgers win how despite it being a 49-10 win, that it was “clunky.”

+ With three captains who can’t play, new leaders have emerged. Dawand Jones has been a pleasant surprise. He feels Ronnie Hickman and Luke Wypler’s leadership on the field. Emeka Egbuka has also shown leadership, Tommy Eichenberg is excellent, and Zach Harrison has a voice. Xaiver Johnson’s leadership overall has been excellent. Their leadership will be challenged this week with going on the road.

+ Michigan State’s punting and ability to flip the field has come up in meetings. They have to win the kicking game and be aware of all of the fakes the Spartans will throw at them. They will be on edge with it but they also have to be aggressive.

+ He’s looking for composure, focus, and leadership from his team this weekend. They also have to play hard. “You can learn a lot from being on the road.”

+ Cam Brown is trying really hard to get back on the field. It’s possible that he could be back this week. They haven’t had that unit at full strength. Young players are stepping up and they are building depth but they hope to get some players back. “We’d love everybody healthy.”

+ They are hoping to get Smith-Njigba back this week. He’s day-to-day.

+ Denzel Burke’s been right there for a lot of plays, he just hasn’t finished them. The good thing is that he’s there, he just has to finish at the point of attack. He knows that and is working on it hard this week.

+ “We gotta win ’em all.” Day said it’s not easy to live that way, it’s a tough profession, but he embraces that. “You have to wake up running everyday.”

+ It’s important to continue to get better.

+ The defensive scheme is good and they believe in the scheme, there are good answers there. But Day said the most important thing is that they have energy, they’re playing fast, and playing with confidence.

Jim Knowles

+ Kye Stokes had a solid game as a true freshman coming in for Tanner McCalister. He hadn’t had many reps at the nickel position. “He held his own.” The safety room as a whole has handled adversity really well. They have all been flexible and have done a good job.

+ On the third down success, Knowles said it’s something that they emphasize. They want to be higher than No. 11 in the country in that. They are doing well but it is a critical part of their system. Getting the ball back to the offense is the game of defense. They want to do that as quickly as possible, whether by takeaway, third down, or fourth down. “Pleased, but we want to continue to grow.”

+ Kourt Williams has been banged up. He is not completely healthy.

+ JK Johnson is aggressive. His reach and impact in press coverage and competition at the end of the route stand out about him.

+ He is pleased with seeing some success of the defense but it’s such a “right now” proposition where failure is not an option, so they are always pushing to get better. He knew when he got to Ohio State that he didn’t have 3-4 seasons to make it a premier defense, it had to be done right now.

+ He is pleased with what they are doing up front but he wants to continue to create more opportunities to get takeaways and negative plays for the defensive ends. They are continuing to grow the system with installation.

+ “What you see is what you get from Tommy Eichenberg.” He can see things as they happen and he reacts when something isn’t right on the practice field.

+ Denzel Burke has dealt with a lot. He wasn’t all the way healthy through camp so he missed a lot of reps and his hand injury was a big deal. He pushed himself to be back and wanted to compete as quickly as possible. “He’s going to keep getting better.” He has shown a lot of grit.

+ “Mike [Hall] is definitely one of the guys who brings the juice.” They need people like that in a great defense.

Tony Alford

+ On the plays at the goal line, Alford said on Saturday they had 22 bodies between those hashes so there wan’t a lot of space to move. In the end they were able to punch it in.

+ Miyan Williams is becoming more confident in his own skin and has grown as a young man. He has had a lot of personal challenges in his life and Alford is proud of him. The entire program leans on him and loves him. He has a kind and big heart, and he is a team guy. He brings so much value with his infectious attitude. He is tough, rugged, and violent as a player. They saw that early on from him.

+ TC Caffey was recruited by Alford like a scholarship player, not a walk-on. He recruited him hard and wasn’t sure how he fell through the cracks in recruiting with other schools, but they are glad they have them.

+ There is zero selfishness in the running back room.

+ He looks at Williams and TreVeyon Henderson as both starters.

+ Dallan Hayden has grown with reps. When Evan Pryor went down in camp, Hayden had more reps and that helped him develop. That afforded him more opportunities and that is how he started to show up.